Coach Anji Postecoglou does not seem to have any plans to take the risk and let Son Heung-min play.
The Athletic, a global sports media outlet in the U.S., reported on the 28th (Korea time) that "Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur was required to check his condition at the last minute ahead of the Manchester United away game. Coach Postecoglou said he would make a decision late on Son's possibility of playing."
Tottenham will play Manchester United in the sixth round of the 2024-25 Premier League at 0:30 a.m. on the 30th at Old Trafford, located in Manchester, England. Tottenham, which broke the losing chain against Brentford last time, will try to win its first league title of the season away from Manchester United.
The biggest issue ahead of the away match at Manchester United is whether Son Heung-min will play or not. Concerns over injury arose as Son Heung-min requested replacement in the UEFA Europa League match against Karabakh during the week. Although it is known that he is not seriously injured, Postecoglou does not seem to have any intention of taking risks.
According to The Athletic, Postecoglou said, "It's still early days since last night. The players are quite tired. Everything is fine except Son. I don't think Son is that bad," adding, "He wants to train. I will see what happens in tomorrow's training and make a decision there. I have one more day to give him every chance," before deciding whether Son will play or not.
The last time Son Heung-min missed due to injury was in November 2022 when an orbital fracture occurred. Last season, he played a full season without injury, scoring 17 goals and 10 assists, and this season, he has scored two goals and two assists in seven games in all competitions.
However, Son, who was born in 1992 and is already in his mid-30s, seems to have faced physical limitations. Over the past few years, he has not been able to rest properly even though he has been going back and forth between England and Korea. Son also agreed with Manchester City midfielder Rodri recently saying, "There are too many matches."
Eventually, in the match against Garabakh, he grabbed his hamstring in the 71st minute and collapsed, asking for a substitution by himself. He scored a net goal for Dominic Solanke with a right footed shot at around 23 minutes in the second half, immediately holding onto his leg and flopping on the ground.
Son, as if to realize he could no longer play, immediately signaled a replacement request to the Tottenham bench, and the captain's armband was lifted. In the end, Son was replaced by Rodrigo Bentancourt, who finished in 71 minutes.
Fortunately, Son Heung-min walked off the field on his own. As Son Heung-min seemed to feel uncomfortable in his legs, some raised concerns that Son Heung-min might have suffered a hamstring injury. It didn't seem to be a major injury, but some argued that management was needed now.
However, 안전놀이터 Postecoglou shook his head when asked if Son Heung-min should be managed.
"No. I wanted to reduce the duration of Son's play in the early days of this season, but I lost Wilson Odobert, Hichalisson and Dominic Solanke. Sometimes in soccer, the type of injury is more important than the number of injured," Son said. "He played more than I wanted. The reason why we recruited Odobert and Solanke and extended Timo Werner's loan was to ease his burden."